When the Toronto Raptors were in danger of losing to the Indiana Pacers in the first round of the playoffs, some wondered whether or not that could cost Dwane Casey his job. While Toronto GM Masai Ujiri had recently endorsed the Raptors' coach, there were pundits around the NBA worried that Casey may not survive a third straight first-round loss. Then the Raptors pulled it together, made it past another seven-game series over the Miami Heat, and pushed the Cleveland Cavaliers to six games in the conference finals.

Ujiri's previous endorsement of Casey looks to be ringing true now that the Raptors' season is over. According to Marc Stein of ESPN.com, the Raptors and Casey will begin contract extension negotiations soon. The Raptors coach has one season left for $4 million on his current deal.

The Raptors and coach Dwane Casey are expected to soon begin talks on a contract extension, league sources said Friday night after Toronto's season ended with a 113-87 loss to the Cavaliers in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference finals.

Casey has one season left on his current contract at the Raptors' option for $4 million next season.

If talks progress as expected, Casey should land a new deal in circumstances not unlike Portland's Terry Stotts.

The Raptors are coming off the greatest season in franchise history. They won 56 games this season and finished just a game behind the Cavaliers in the standings. Despite their postseason struggles, they made the conference finals for the first time in their history. And after looking like they could be demolished in the series following Games 1 and 2, the Raptors fought back and tied the series at 2-2 before losing the final two games. Casey made good adjustments defensively against the Cavaliers following the first two games and had his team fighting to the very end.

Casey owns a career coaching record of 263-253, and has gone 210-184 record with the Raptors. His previous head-coaching job was in Minnesota where he lasted fewer than two seasons. He started the first 11 seasons of his coaching career as an assistant for Seattle and between the Minnesota and Toronto jobs, he was an assistant coach for the Dallas Mavericks. He was their defensive architect in the 2010-11 season when the Mavs won the championship.

Dwane Casey will likely be the Raptors' coach for a long time. USATSI